Ball (gridiron football)

This new, sleeker ball made it much easier to handle, particularly for passers, while at the same time making the drop kick unreliable and obsolete.

[6] From 1941 through 1969 and since 2006, the official game ball of the National Football League (NFL) has been stamped with the nickname "The Duke" in honor of Wellington Mara, the longtime owner of the New York Giants, who was named after the Duke of Wellington by his father, Tim Mara, founder and first owner of the Giants.

Wilson Sporting Goods, the manufacturer of the NFL ball since 1941, named the ball after Wellington Mara at the urging of George Halas, the owner and head coach of the Chicago Bears, to reward Tim Mara for arranging the contract that made Wilson the official supplier of footballs to the NFL.

Wellington Mara died in 2005 (at age 89), and Wilson returned "The Duke" to the game ball the following year in his honor.

It is a prolate spheroid, an elongated sphere in which the outer leather casing is drawn tightly over a somewhat smaller rubber tubing.

[further explanation needed][9]Leather panels are typically tanned to a natural brown color, which is usually required in professional leagues and collegiate play.

After a series of quality control inspections for weight and blemishes, workers begin the actual manufacturing process.

Polyvinyl chloride or leather laces are inserted through the perforations, to provide a grip for holding, hiking and passing the football.

Twelve new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer, are opened in the officials' locker room two hours and 15 minutes before the game.

[25] Minnesota Vikings kicker Fred Cox, during his NFL career, is credited with developing an all-polyurethane foam football, which he sold to Nerf.

[26] Nerf later added the vortex football, also made of foam, with a smaller body and torpedo tail fins, resembling a Ketchum Grenade.